Australian Targets

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Climate activists invaded the campaign office of Energy and Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg on Burke Rd, Camberwell in Melbourne. The climate campaign organisation 350.org have listed Josh Frydenberg as a 'Climate Blocker' on their website.

About fifty people turned up around 9.30 this morning with 12 people aged from 19 to 76 occupying the office, while others decorated the outside of the office with Climate crime scene tape, draped climate emergency banners, and signs about global warming impact on the Great Barrier Reef.

Many of those gathered outside wore white hazmat uniforms, while they chanted and sung songs and talked to passers by.

One of the activists and organisers, Menna McAlpin toldThe Huffington Post Australia, "The police have just come, we're liaising with them. It's pretty calm at the moment," she said.

"We're here to voice our concern because we've seen the effects of climate change, we've seen the Great Barrier Reef bleaching. We're deeply unsatisfied with the government's relationship with the fossil fuel industry, and we're here to let Josh Frydenberg know that we'd like him to end his relationship with fossil fuel companies."

“Police have told us they can only move them along if we close the office, which we do not want to do," Liberal Minister Josh Frydenberg toldthe Herald Sun. He said that it was "outrageous" that police did not have the powers to move along protesters who were stopping his staff from doing their jobs.

But according to protest spokeswoman Charlie Wood, “everyone conducted themselves entirely peacefully" and protesters were careful not to harass any staff or constituents, and no-one was blocked from entering Mr Frydenberg’s office. Office staff were even given a box of chocolates as a gift.

“When the official request for the protesters to leave was made by the office manager just before noon, the 12 people inside left shortly after," said Charlie Wood, reported the Herald Sun.

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About Me

Time to leap out of the slowly boiling pot of earth's warming climate
into action on climate mitigation and adaption.
I don't want my children to ask why I didn't act after reading the
scientific reports of climate risks. I write on the
effects of human induced climate change, sea level rise, ocean
acidification, biodiversity loss, environmental and social impacts of
global warming, and climate protests from a Melbourne Citizen
Journalist.

A member of environmental NGOs and community groups for 30 years in Australia, currently living in Melbourne. I have been a Citizen journalist for the Indymedia network in Australia and worldwide from 2000, as an editor and contributor with Australia Indymedia and the global features collective. Since 2013 I have contributed many stories to Margot Kingston's citizen journalism website: nofibs.com.au. (See my article archive) I also post photoessays to Flickr and videos to Youtube and edit wikipedia as user Tirin. My website is takver.com where I can be contacted through the feedback form, the most reliable way to contact me. I can also be contacted through facebook and on twitter as @takvera.